


i bet you look good on the dancefloor

by rangerchikin



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, i cant go out so they had to in my place, trey and cater being best bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26765068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerchikin/pseuds/rangerchikin
Summary: Cater wants a good time at the bar. Not alone, obviously.Who would've thought his best option would be a certain prince who appreciates invitations?
Relationships: Cater Diamond/Malleus Draconia, Malleus Draconia/Cater Diamond
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45





	i bet you look good on the dancefloor

“You don't like it.”

Cater glanced knowingly upon his dear friend, Trey Clover, who was pretending to inspect his glass filled with their shared cocktail deal with mild interest. Cater could see right through the boredom in his eyes, as though he'd rather be anywhere else that isn't some busy bar at the town. Rudy's, they call it.

“The cocktail or the bar?”

“Both? This is totally not your thing.”

“I don't hate it.”

“Then maybe stop looking like you do, Trey-kun~” Cater murmured as he downed his own cocktail and set the short glass aside. “Oh, the struggle to befriend a middle aged man.”

“Hey. I heard that.”

“Oops.” glancing at another line of drinks in the menu card, he fixed his eyes on a cocktail titled 'Alien Nipple' right before Trey snatched the paper away.

“No more drinks tonight.”

“Are you supposed to be this boring all the time~? Come on, this isn't at school!”

“And we are returning there. What will the teachers say if you show up wasted tomorrow morning?”

“Why do I have a feeling you'll still be like this if we're here on weekends? Just one more. It's a cocktail.”

“Which still contains alcohol, and god knows if you'll give up for a third shot.”

“I don't remember taking my Dad to the bar.”

“Even better. I'm your friend.”

“Who sounds like my Dad, yeah.”

“See, you're drunk. You don't bring up your Dad.”

“Now I see why you fit your eel boyfriend so much.”

Trey's eyes made a quick roll to accompany his sigh. “We're keeping Jade out of this.”

“Stop ruining the fun already~” planting one of his fist over Trey's shoulder as a mock punch, he distanced himself from the table and tipped his head to the crowd in the middle of the bar. “Dance?”

Trey did a glance over the flocking customers and shook his head. “Later. Too many people.”

Cater drops his arms to the sides in defeat, pursing his lips as his eyes also dropped to half lid. “I really should consider taking anyone else with me.”

“Look, I'm fine with the usual cafes you take me to. Why the bar?”

“Because Cay-kun wants to go to the bar once in a while! Change of pace, alright?”

The corner of Trey's lips quirked into a smirk. “Well, that plan doesn't exactly work with me. You know whom I'd say enjoy this?”

Cater cocked an eyebrow. “Who?”

“Malleus.”

A winch escaped him, and Cater claimed his seat back next to Trey's, a thought clearly forming in his mind. “He's a _prince_.”

“So a prince can't have fun?”

“That's not what I mean~” Cater found his glass and fiddles with it. Interesting how he'd only start to behave this way when it comes to Malleus—of all people, he's actually glad to have Trey being the only one witnessing this. His friend is rather free of judgement, if not very much so. “He's important and everything, I just can't picture him entering a bar.”

“What if it's because no one ever takes him to one? You know, like his issues with parties.”

“Rude.” Cater scoffed. “I'm not scared to invite him or anything like that. He's a royalty, okay? Why would he like something commoners enjoy?”

“Why not? You told me he enjoys ice cream. Sounds like commoner thing to me.”

“Somehow the way you suggest it irks me a little bit, Trey-kun.”

Trey dryly laughed. “No offense for your to-be-king boyfriend here. I'm trying to persuade you to invite a better bar night out companion.”

“You're tired of going out with me? That's a deep wound you just left~”

“Well, unless you're willing to put up staying all night in a bar with a _middle aged man_ ,” Trey said, intonating his last few words. “Try asking him.”

Cater found his eyebrows creasing, beginning to think how good of an idea that was. His primary company to spend time has always been Trey, given they were close for a long time. Ever since he dated Malleus, they had gone to dates now and then, but as how Trey has implied, he's hesitant to invite him for more. Not because Cater didn't want to bring Malleus where he goes; he would like that, to be frank. But taking Malleus to ordinary places feels unfitting. They'd spend time in his room all he wants, because Malleus treasures privacy. Would he be ready for something like a bar?

Nothing to lose, you just had to ask. It was finally what brought Cater to dare himself and ask his prince boyfriend about going to a bar.

“The brass club?”

“Bar, Malleus-kun.”

“What's the difference?”

Perhaps he should jot down about how his boyfriend is not only a prince, but also a prince who lived over a hundred years old. Or two. Could be either of those. “That's how they used to call it, maybe? Similar thing.”

“And I'm supposed to go with you?”

“I've done myself a valor by simply asking you this. Don't let me down, please.”

“I won't do that, Diamond. I didn't say no.” Malleus said, delicately caressing his thumb over the hand in his palm. Cater has always found such ways of comforting old fashioned, but there's nothing he won't endure for Malleus. “You need to tell me more about this 'bar'.”

“Then you'll go?”

“Then I'll go.” a thin smile on Malleus' lips made one on Cater's. “So tell me.”

Cater lolled his head to the side, finding what might easily explain a bar that Malleus will understand with ease. “A place where people gather for drinks and dance. And to talk. The best conversations happens over liquor, someone says.”

“You don't bring your entourage to go?”

Bewildered, on the inside; then Cater reminds himself that he shouldn't be surprised. “I can't stop you if you want.”

Malleus laughed, only briefly. “I was joking. I want it to be you and me.”

Cater felt the sides of his cheeks growing warm, a sight that Malleus captures with delight. “Will Lilia allow you to go, though?”

“I don't need his approval.”

“Right, you sneak out from time to time. Your poor guards are going to freak out over nothing once they know you're going to the bar.”

“Let them. I've told them not to worry about me.”

Tucking his lips into a frown, Cater objected. “Malleus-kun.”

”..I will let them know when I leave.”

“Good. I don't want to become your 'bad influence', under any circumstances.”

“I would've left you if you were.” Malleus traced his fingers up to Cater's still lukewarm cheek, gingerly holding it. “Let's have fun at the.. Bar, shall we?”

Cater had purposely chose Friday to avoid the argument Trey used against him the first time he visited Rudy's. Malleus is his company tonight, so whatever happens shouldn't be within his guess.

There were more people than the last time he went here. As expected of weekends, apparently. He took anxious glances over Malleus, trying to make sure if he was truly fine with where they're headed, but Malleus was unfazed. The bar seemed to be more familiar to him that Cater had thought.

“You've been here before, it seems.” Cater began, fingers tapping on the glass of wine Malleus ordered for them.

“Can't say.” attaching the mouth of his glass to his lips, Malleus elegantly sipped his drink before fixating his eyes back to his boyfriend. He looked too dashing, too out of place to be somewhere as tedious as a bar, like the ordinary shirt he was wearing hardly concealed any of that shine. Even then, this place is already as good as it gets for Cater to indulge. “Depends on how long this place has opened.”

“If you ask me.. 'Rudy's' sounds like a new name, I don't think any longer than a few years. Newly opened when we entered college I think?”

“Then it's my first time here. Thank you for bringing me here, Diamond.” the gratitude left his lips with a smile. Cater was thrilled, yet at the same time embarrassed.

“It's not a fancy dinner. No need to thank me.”

“I said it because I want to.”

While everything Cater was able to do is shake his head, he is thankful Malleus didn't outright despise their date idea.

The music playing was a track of RnB, and as the night grows late, more people gathering on the center of the bar to dance. He hadn't explained what sort of dance they're doing in a place like this. It would be mortifying to waltz in the middle of a bar.

“Liking the music?”

He saw Malleus with a shrug, and a content nod as the response. “It's unlike what Lilia blares in his room on Tuesdays.”

Cater wasn't able to keep a chuckle to himself on the undebatable connection. “He does that song after every club practice?”

“Oh, I didn't notice.”

“We don't do Rock often, but if we do, Lilia leads it. So when we got to go with anything else but that, it seems that he meets his own taste when he plays by himself.”

“I see.”

“And,” Cater averted his eyes from the glass, finding a certain song title he's awfully bored of hearing. “It must be that one song and no other.”

“I don't know much about Rock, but I might know that one.”

With a knowing smile, Cater counted with his fingers from three down to one, to speak in unison,

“ _I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor_.” they both broke into a laugh.

“Why does he like that song so much?” Cater wiped a drop of tear from the corner of his eyes, lost with how a fact this mundane felt so funny. The wine must be of blame. “Every single time, in the club, even for practice breaks. It's that song again and again.”

“If you're suggesting that you've grown bored, I understand.”

“No way, aren't you?”

“Close enough.” his laughter died, replaced with the charming smile Cater must admit start hating. Everything in this bar seemed like they ceased to exist just by watching him smile. Sometimes Cater thought of how many people throughout his lengthy life has fallen for that smile, but Malleus is all his now. It shouldn't be something he worry about. “What I know about Lilia, he won't stop if he found something he truly liked. He'll get bored and find another when the time comes, so I don't feel bothered.”

“Perhaps he likes how the bass works for that song, then.”

“I really don't know a lot about that.”

“We have a lifetime of chances to teach you more about music, if you feel like it.” Cater playfully poked the side of his boyfriend's arm, and earned Maleus' hand on his wrist, for some reason. He dropped his sight to find where it went, only to see how it crept towards his hand to take his phone away and brought their fingers together. Malleus can be such a cheese ball when he wished to.

“Diamond.”

“Yes, Malleus-kun.” he cleared his throat, still resting his eyes over their holding hands. “It's time to pay the actual dancefloor a visit.”

Like how bars normally are, the dancefloor is ought to be full of people the later it gets. It's gone quite late at this point, but not letting Malleus have his tour would be such a waste.

As he led Malleus into the crowd, people peeled away from the mass to give them space. This didn't happen when he last came here... Of course it didn't. He came with one of the greatest magician to ever live. Well, _his_ magician. He's more than rightful to boast that to the crowd now.

“Dance lesson 101 with yours truly~” Cater twirled himself to a spot where Malleus stepped right towards, hands still linked together. “Cay-kun will tell you everything you need.”

“There are specific rules to this dance?”

“That's right,” swiftly taking his hands away, Cater starts wiggling himself to the beat and grins. “One rule called 'have fun'.”

“I'm afraid everything I got was 'move like weed'.”

“Was that you making fun of me?”

A slight tilt of his lips almost formed a smile. “Probably.”

“Great, everyone absolutely loves being mean to me.” before Malleus had the chance to apologize, Cater let him took the hint by taking both of his hands back in his hold. “Are you familiar with waltz, Your Highness?”

“Now you're making fun of me.”

Cater grins, swaying the hands left and right, jiggling them along to the music. “Abandon everything you know. Move any way you like, forget everyone's here.”

“Everyone is practically watching us, Diamond.”

“Then it's time to show off~”

His leg stretched and formed a cross, making him turn around. In harmonious tandem, his hips followed where his steps went, and was finally inciting enough to have Malleus went after where he led him, albeit not much different to walking with beats dictating his pace, arms faithfully somewhere Cater would fall and twists free from, repeating the catch and mouse in their dance.

“ _And your face gleams like a prophecy~_ ” with a brisk movement of his hand, Cater pulled Malleus over to end their chase and hangs his arms over his boyfriend's neck, chanting lyrics to the song, slightly out of breathe. “ _I might just lose myself_.”

Like a deer in the headlights, Malleus was stunned, but quick to gain his wit and kept Cater in his embrace, arms wrapping his waist and lead them to sway together as a round of applause surrounded them.

“I told you everyone is watching us.” Malleus' words was hardly any louder than a hush, but Cater had caught well from the movement of his lips.

“Do you hate it?”

“No,” they had forgotten about tempo and dwindled into simply standing, rocking slightly with their shoulders.

This much is more than enough, Cater thought, to bore his gaze straight to Malleus and his precious, glimmering green eyes. He'd heard somewhere that people with similar traits belong together. Or maybe he didn't. He just made it up, because he was into the idea of having matching emeralds with Malleus, even though he was a peasant and their eyes shine differently. But he shouldn't care about who he was now. Malleus is his, and he had to make that a point.

Cater gently pulled Malleus towards him and brought them into a kiss, tasting the remains of their earlier wine. Strong, but tasteless. Everything he tasted was Malleus—that's what he preferred, to have his boyfriend tasting like he is, to remind him he was kissing Malleus Draconia, the man he wholeheartedly love, and not a bottle of Carlo Rossi.

“Diamond,” he heard Malleus whispered against his lips.

“Mm-hm~”

“People are watching.”

“And you don't care.”

Then he felt a smile, grazing his lips, not once breaking the kiss. “Correct.”

* * *

The kiss and his words were the earliest memories Cater woke up to the next morning, Saturday afternoon. He'd forgotten most of what happened last night. Trey was somewhat correct, about not drinking too much. Strange that he didn't feel remorseful.

Malleus somehow didn't decide to stay over. Cater never understood the reason behind that; was that because he'd be rude to stay and not notify Riddle? Things with dorm leaders, he will never understand.

The first thing he'd do every morning was to reach over his phone, which was conveniently placed on the nightstand. Despite Malleus falling behind in technology, he cared enough about his addiction to an extent. It's about his time to catch up, but Cater never dared lecturing a man so sweet about the latest tech trend while his favorite entertainment is Tamagotchi.

He logged into his phone to notice the tab for notes were open and scrolled through the page, finding the newest entry he didn't remember making. His smile was so tight it hurts his cheeks when he reads hilariously misplaced typos within a typed message:

“Thsnk you for tonight. Looking forwsrd to another bar date.

M. D.”

Cater already found a way to spend his next weekend.

**Author's Note:**

> this was another excuse to write my absolute favorite brotp because torekei is truly the purest. pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease. (im sorry malleus)
> 
> about the songs!!  
> *) I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys. don't ask why this was the first song that came to my mind lol
> 
> **) Selene by NIKI. try reading that scene with this song playing and you'll get what i mean WWWWWW


End file.
